A Simple Cure
by Magelet1
Summary: Daine visits Kaddar and ends up confused and unsure about her friendship with him.


A Simple Cure  
A D/K story. Originally upon reading The Emperor Mage, I thought that they'd end up together (it fits in between the Immortals series and PotS, just go with it) so here's my fantasy...   
By Magelet  
  
  
'Memo to me: NEVER visit male friends who are single when you are too. Well, more or less." Daine Sarrasri chided herself when she caught herself starring at her host with a dreamy air, thinking how it would be to have a lover that was closer to her own age. She had seen Kaddar's earlier glance that told her a lot about how he felt about her visit, and it left her with an unsettling feeling in her stomach. The topic of her thoughts walked over to where she was sitting. She hated the fact that he had insisted on a welcoming ball to get her acquainted with some of the people that she'd be staying with the next few months.  
  
"Daine, you really should try to meet the people that you'll be working with the next few months. We'd all really like to make your stay a comfortable one. Not to mention some people would like to meet Kitten and maybe even Zek. He seems quite intelligent for a pigmy marmoset. And I would be honored if our gifted, but not Gifted, guest from the North would dance with me." He winked at her and offered his hand. She sighed and accepted, he knew as well as she that no one could refuse politely when asked to dance by the Emperor of Carthak.   
  
"Kaddar, how can you move with all that jewelry on? And you've been able to get rid of half of it since you became the emperor. And, I'm not Gifted. I just have a knack with animals. Not to mention that my father's a god." Daine smiled and tried to think about something she wanted to - Numair.  
  
"I change things slowly here, so as not to shock everyone. Every week I wear one less item, of jewelry, I mean. If I changed things too fast, it might scare some people. I don't care much for all the jewelry myself. Though, some I like to keep, such as my bracelet." He spun her around, then as the dance required, pulled her closer to him.  
  
'Why did he pick this song to as me to dance?' Daine questioned as he did so, but then answered herself, 'he did this on purpose, I know he did. He wants me to like him. And it's working.' She shook her head 'I love Numair, even if Kaddar is, well, oh!'  
  
"Daine, are you alright?" Kaddar asked, loosening his hold a bit.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. I just don't care much for this ball in general, and you know it well!" She retorted  
  
Kaddar grinned and held her tighter than before as well as closer. Her eyes widened but softened a bit. Though behind the soft look she was building up her guard. The emperor could sense this and loosened hid grip again. He didn't want to chase her off; he just wanted to show how he cared.   
  
Daine's mind spun, 'He is handsome, and I am supposed to be helping all kinds of animals recover from the havoc wrought by Orzone."  
  
Kitten, waddled over to the dancing two and cocked her head, watching them. Zek scrambled up Kaddar's leg and perched on his shoulder, fingering the jewelry. He chattered to Daine who laughed.  
  
"He wants to know how you got the jewel to stay on your nose." Daine explained to the Emperor, referring to Kaddar's nose-ring, something he had not taken out yet.  
  
Zek reached out a careful finger and poked the ruby stud, jumping back and hiding on the other side of Kaddar's neck. Daine giggled. The song ended, but Kaddar held on to her for a moment too long. Some nosey courtiers noticed and whispered about it.  
  
She began to step away, back to the hangings around the edge of the room that she tried to blend in with if she could. Kaddar caught her hand.  
  
"Come on, Daine. Just one more dance?" He didn't seem to care that people were staring or that he was acting improperly for an emperor.  
  
Attempting to patch things up a bit. "Your Imperial Highness. You flatter me." She smiled as graciously as possible. "The way you try to make me feel at home here. It is just as if a friend at home were asking me. My thanks." She curtsied to him.  
  
Kaddar looked around the room. "Unless we am mistaken, you came to this party to welcome the Wild Mage that will be helping our country's creatures recover from mistakes made in the past. We am entertaining our guest as ought you. You may remove your attention from us now." He nodded to the small orchestra and they struck up another slow tune that began as if it would never end.  
  
"You need to not make a scene!" She admonished him quietly as they danced closely and quietly. "These people are antsy enough about you and about me! You're a young and un-prooved emperor and I'm a freak!"  
  
"Concerned for my safety? I'm touched." He smiled at her, and she half-melted. His hand at the small of her back, pulling her close to him, was making her sweat.  
  
"Kaddar, I'm not feeling well. Could I be permitted to go to my roms after this dance?" If this situation didn't make her sick, her homesickness would. She missed Numair and her friends with a vengence. She'd been seperated from them, of course, but she didn't feel comfortable now.  
  
The young emperor shook his head at her. "You may do what you want, you know that. What is it about me that makes you so uncomfortable? I know of your dislike of balls, but this extends beyond that."  
  
The song ended and Daine was so relieved that she could have wept. Bidding him farewell, she fled to her rooms. Shortly after leaving the ballroom, she could hear someone persuing her. He caught up with her, grasping her arm. "What is it, Daine? I'm not old enough for you? Do I have to be a mage twice your age for you to love me? To even consider likeing me?"  
  
"Kaddar don't be foolish! I'm in love with Numair, you know that. You KNOW that. And I like you, you're a dear friend." She hesitated.  
  
"You're not telling me something. Tell me."  
  
"Fine." She snapped. "I'll tell you if you leave me be." She accepted his instantly-given nod. "I wanted out because I felt something." Daine murmured. Kaddar looked into her face sharply. "I'm being disloyal to Numair!" She cried, tearing away from her captor, she ran down the hall. Once again, she didn't get far. Kaddar caught up with her, and this time took both of her arms in his hands.  
  
"You said you'd leave me be!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her voice was desperate.  
  
"I didn't say when and I didn't say for how long. Just remember this for now Daine. He could be disloyal to you now and you'd never know. I can have any woman that I want here. I want you, Daine. I want you." He looked into her eyes that were pumping out tears by the pint. "I love you." He kissed her. Long and slow he kissed her. Reflexively, she opened her mouth slightly for him. He took advantage of that.  
  
Just as slowly as the rest of the kiss, he pulled away. Her eyes, half shut, snapped open like window blinds. For the third time in ten minutes, she pulled away from him and fled. But for the first time this evening, Kaddar did not persure her. He'd let her be to herself now.  
  
Kitten, bearing Zek on her back, plowed into Kaddar's left leg, hurtling toward her watcher's chambers, almost causing him to fall.  
  
With a sigh, Kaddar went to his own chambers. He had dismissed the people at the ball when the guest of honor left. They had hardly spoken to her anyway. 'Gods she's beautiful.' The young man sat on his bed and rubbed at his temples. He wished that she were here with him. Almost as much as he loved her, he wished that she were here.  
  
Back in her rooms, which were lavish and expensive, Daine fell to her knees in a floor pillow and sobbed. She cried because she was home sick and missed Numair. She wept because she felt like a traitor and that she felt something or Kaddar. Daine shed tears because she was tired and confused and just wanted to know what to do. She wanted Numair here, but he couldn't come. He'd had to be in Tortal helping the king and queen resolve some urgent matters that she couldn't cal to mind at the time.  
  
Kitten snuggled up by her, curling around her care-taker. Zek climbed onto her shoulders and played with her disheveled hair. Curled up in a corner, she fell into a troubled sleep.  
  
Daine awoke at dawn. Streatching out her cramped muscles, she had to move Kitten and Zek before she could actually stand. She changed her clothes and splashed water on her face. In breaches and a loose wool shirt, she climbed out her window and up the side of the building, making her fingers and toes like a tree-frog's and stood on the roof.  
  
Relaxing into human form, she took a few breaths of the rich, humid air. She shifted into an eagle and flew from the building. The rising sun was slightly warm on her feathers and even in the early morning as it was, there were plenty of thermals her in the city. Flapping her wings, she set out to the countryside, were she could feel the cool zir caress her face and she could forget everything excapt the euphroia of flying.  
  
Finally, three hours after sunrise, she returned to the palace. She'd spent the time in the country running as a wildcat, flying as a bird, and, in a small pool she'd found, swimming as a fish. After three hours of relaxation and just thinking of nothing, she was a bit reluctant to enter the confusing world that she was fored to live in just yet. 


End file.
